Obituary of William Anthony Radlinski

William "Rad" Radlinski, 91, a World War II veteran and Former Associate Director of the U.S. Geological Survey died February 15, 2013, at Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg VA after a brief illness. He was born on August 13, 1921, in Salamanca, New York. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers as a Topographic Engineer officer in the European Theater of Operations during WWII where he was in three Campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he graduated from Hofstra College and attended Georgetown University Graduate School. He remained in the US Army Reserves retiring in 1981 at the rank of Lt. Colonel. A Registered Professional Engineer and Certified Photogrammetrist, Radlinski had a 30-year career with the U.S. Geological Survey where he was the Associate Director for ten years, nearly two of which he was Acting Director. Radlinski was president of the American Society of Photogrammetry in 1968, President of the International Federation of Surveyors for three years in the mid 1970s, and was an Honorary Member of Great Britain's Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and of the Federation International des Geometres. He traveled extensively including trips to the Soviet Union and was co-chairman of a joint US-USSR committee on environmental protection in the oil and gas industry. Mt. Radlinski, a 9,020-foot mountain in Antarctica, was named after him in 1963. Radlinski received the US Department of Interior's Distinguished Service Award and was a member of the Cosmos Club since 1970. After retiring from the Government in 1979 Radlinski served as Executive Director of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping for five Years. For over 15 years William Radlinski resided at Falcons Landing, a continuing care retirement community in Potomac Falls, VA where he served as president of the Residents' Council and the chairman of the newsletter Editorial Board. He was an avid writer and unrelenting editor, a genealogist, a photographer, woodworker and he played tennis well up into his eighties. He is predeceased by his beloved wife, Theresa (Harmuth); brothers Leonard, James, Fred, and Donald; and a sister Anne Marie Skrobacz. He is survived by sons Richard of Queenstown, MD and Robert of Bethesda, MD, and a sister Julie Fusiara of Olean, NY. He has three grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.